Inclination adjustment fittings of the kind described herein have an inner and an outer toothing, which are produced, e.g., by stamping from sheet metal cuttings of the fitting parts. In this instance, the number of teeth of the outer toothing is at least one tooth less than the inner toothing, and one of the fitting parts is supported by an eccentric that is rotatable about the swivel axis, which, in turn, is supported by the other fitting part. In inclination adjustment fittings of the presently considered kind, the eccentric includes two wedge segments that are supported by an eccentric ring and are pressed apart in the sense of increasing eccentricity in the circumferential direction of the eccentric ring by an energy store, normally a spring. This prevents any play in the toothing and in the bearing. When the eccentric is actuated about the swivel axis of the inclination adjustment fitting, the inner toothing of the one fitting part rolls off on the outer toothing of the other fitting part, whereby a swivel, corresponding to the difference in the number of teeth, of the fitting part fixed on the seat back with respect to the fitting part fixed on the seat part is achieved.
The entire system is also referred to as a wobble mechanism.
In order to avoid transferring the load from the fitting part connected to the seat back to the fitting part connected to the seat part via the wedge segments, a contact cam formed on the eccentric ring protrudes into the space between the end faces of the wedge segments and in the event of an overload is used to transfer the load via a contact surface from the fitting part connected to the seat back to the fitting part connected to the seat part. Usually, the contact surface of the contact cam is situated at a small radial distance from the fitting part connected to the seat back. This distance is, on the one hand, selected such that the wedge segments in normal operation both ensure that the fitting is free from play and produce the required eccentricity for adjusting the fitting and, on the other hand, such that, in the event of an overload, the contact surface comes into contact with the fitting part attached to the seat back by deformation of fitting components such that loads from the seat back or the contact cams of the eccentric ring are fed into the seat part and from there into the body of the vehicle. The contact surface of the contact cam may be constantly in contact with the fitting part that is attached to the seat back. In this instance, there exists a so-called fixed eccentric and the wedge segments only serve to compensate a play possibly existing due to tolerances of form and position.
A problem this otherwise very reliable arrangement is that the wedge segments together with the spring pressing them apart form a component that is relatively movable with respect to the eccentric ring such that possibly an undesired displacement of the wedge segments together with the spring with respect to the eccentric ring may occur, and thus a malfunction of the entire wobble mechanism may occur.